What to Know
- Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
- Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center opens for the season on March 1, 2020
- A gift shop plus displays and information on flowers and wildlife
The wildflower scene at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve?
It can start to get major in March, and we're not just talking about the famous flower that happens to be in the destination's name.
To help acclimate visitors to the area and to give people some background about what grows and lives there, including information about the wildlife that calls the reserve home, there is the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpretative Center.
It's a center that doesn't keep year-round hours, but rather opens when nearby petals start to open, too.
Which means that it traditionally throws its doors wide on March 1, each and every year.
As for what you'll find at the center?
Look for "... a short video, wildlife and plant displays, and a gift shop," too, as well as "shaded picnic tables" outside (yep, the table section rocks "... a serene view over the valley to the San Gabriel Mountains.")
Does that mean that peak bloom coincides with the center's opening?
It does not. Nope. Hold up and hold on, poppy people.
There were a few poppies, here and there, reported a couple of weeks back, and the still-to-come 2020 poppy bloom may be in the "moderate" range, says a reserve representative.
Again, we haven't yet reached that point. Repeat, the poppies popping, beyond a scattering of blossoms, is down the road.
If you're into fiddlenecks, the forecast is good, while other wildflowers beyond poppies and fiddlenecks often make a splendid showing as spring nears.
But the center's opening on March 1 does say, quite emphatically, that we're now entering the Wildflower Zone, a truly wonderful zone to visit.
Best look to a few weeks from now, and watch the destination's social pages, to see when the poppy bloom revs up on the reserve.
